FRAMINGHAM, Mass. — (BUSINESS WIRE) — August 29, 2016 — Worldwide PC shipments are forecast to decline by 7.2% year over year in 2016, followed by a decline of 2.1% in 2017, according to an updated forecast from the International Data Corporation ( IDC) Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker. This remains quite close to May's projections for declines of 7.3% in 2016 and 1.6% in 2017. Growth for the second quarter of 2016 came in at -4.1%, more than 3 percentage points ahead of expectations. The gains, primarily in the United States, Western Europe, and Latin America, were partially attributed to rebuilding inventory, which is not expected to continue in the second half of 2016. Momentum from the stronger than expected second quarter was also undermined somewhat by continuing economic and political volatility, including exchange rates, commodity prices, Brexit, and related or similar factors across regions.

Despite the challenges, PC shipments are gradually stabilizing, with some positive (albeit minimal) growth expected in 2018. Competition from other devices and longer device life have been the root causes of slower growth, but both are having less impact, opening the way to PC replacements, particularly in the commercial market. Although detachable tablet shipments continue to grow quickly, growth is slowing from a peak last year and volume has been less than 14% of notebook volume so far this year. Commercial notebook growth is expected to peak at almost 5% during the forecast while commercial desktop shipments will return to flat growth. In contrast, consumer shipments of both notebook and desktops are expected to decline throughout the forecast. Combining detachable tablets with PCs, the market is projected to decline by 2.8% in 2016 with small positive growth in later years.

"The PC market continues on a slow path to stabilization – quite close to prior forecasts," said Loren Loverde, vice president, Worldwide Tracker Forecasting and PC research. "The political and economic disruptions, as well as the small shift in growth from tablets to notebooks that we saw in the second quarter, are small shifts in device replacement and competition between categories. We still expect shipments to stabilize over the medium term, while market leaders will benefit from further consolidation."

The U.S. PC market showed marked improvement in the second quarter – up 3.9% compared to down 7.6% in the first quarter. However, some of this rebound is attributable to inventory buildup in preparation of the education buying season as a cautious attitude in the channel began to subside following months of reducing inventory. "Although we believe much of the second quarter result was related to a one-off inventory intake, there is still cause for optimism in the second half of this year," said Linn Huang, research director, Devices & Displays. "We are still ascending towards the peak education and back-to-school buying season, have a Chrome OS that is more ready for consumer primetime than it has ever been, and are anticipating some early Windows 10 transitions in enterprise."

PC Shipments by Product Category and Region (Shipments in millions)
Product Category				Region				2016 Shipments (M)*				Market Share*				2020 Shipments (M)*				Market Share*				5-Year CAGR
Desktop				Mature				38.8				15.2%				30.7				12.3%				-5.7%
				Emerging				64.7				25.3%				63.9				25.7%				-0.3%
Desktop Total								103.6				40.4%				94.6				38.0%				-2.2%
Notebook				Mature				85.9				33.5%				81.4				32.7%				-1.3%
				Emerging				66.6				26.0%				73.1				29.3%				2.4%
Notebook Total								152.5				59.6%				154.5				62.0%				0.3%
Total PC				Mature				124.7				48.7%				112.1				45.0%				-2.6%
				Emerging				131.3				51.3%				137.0				55.0%				1.1%
Grand Total								256.0				100.0%				249.2				100.0%				-0.7%
Source: IDC Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker, August 2016

* Forecast data

Table Note: Mature Markets include U.S., Western Europe, Japan, and Canada. Emerging Markets include Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan), Latin America, Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), Middle East, and Africa (MEA).

Taxonomy Note: PCs include Desktop, Mini Notebook and other Portable PCs which possess non-detachable keyboards, and do not include handhelds or tablets such as the Apple iPad, Microsoft Surface Pro, or Android Tablets.

In addition to the table above, an interactive graphic illustrating worldwide Desktop and Portable PC shipments and total PC market growth for 2014-2017 is available here. Instructions on how to embed this graphic into online news articles and social media can be found by viewing this press release on IDC.com.

IDC's Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker gathers PC market data in more than 80 countries by vendor, form factor, brand, processor brand and speed, sales channel and user segment. The research includes historical and forecast trend analysis as well as price band and installed base data. For more information, or to subscribe to the research, please contact Kathy Nagamine at 650-350-6423 or knagamine@idc.com.

About IDC Trackers
IDC Tracker products provide accurate and timely market size, vendor share, and forecasts for hundreds of technology markets from more than 100 countries around the globe. Using proprietary tools and research processes, IDC's Trackers are updated on a semiannual, quarterly, and monthly basis. Tracker results are delivered to clients in user-friendly excel deliverables and on-line query tools. The IDC Tracker Charts app allows users to view data charts from the most recent IDC Tracker products on their iPhone and iPad. The IDC Tracker Chart app is also available for Android Phones and Android Tablets.

About IDC
International Data Corporation (IDC) is the premier global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events for the information technology, telecommunications, and consumer technology markets. With more than 1,100 analysts worldwide, IDC offers global, regional, and local expertise on technology and industry opportunities and trends in over 110 countries. IDC's analysis and insight helps IT professionals, business executives, and the investment community to make fact-based technology decisions and to achieve their key business objectives. Founded in 1964, IDC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of International Data Group ( IDG), the world's leading media, data and marketing services company. To learn more about IDC, please visit www.idc.com. Follow IDC on Twitter at @IDC.

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Loren Loverde, 786-563-8289
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Linn Huang, 650-350-6436
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Michael Shirer, 508-935-4200
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